USWNT vs Romania Scores, Live Updates, and Commentary of International Friendly 2016 (5-0)

13-11-2016

Follow the USWNT vs Romania in an international friendly. The game is set to kick-off at 9:30 PM EST at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Follow here for live stream, commentary, and result on VAVEL.

Romania have not fared too badly as of late. Despite the loss against the US on Thursday, they had been on a four match unbeaten run. They drew Portugal twice -- 0-0, 1-1; beat Greece 4-0 and Ukraine 2-1-- both at home. Sandwiched by a 5-2 thumping from Belarus was two more victories. They beat Serbia 3-4 and picked up a win against 3-0 win against Albania in the Women’s European Championship. Most everyone loses to the US anyways, so as long as they do not completely lay down and put in a decent effort, Romania will surely be pleased.

The US are always going to have a strong side with up and comers flying through the ranks at a regular pace. But, big questions are always going to linger. Are they going to get things together when big tournaments roll around? That next major tournament, however, will not come around until 2019. There will be plenty of time between now and then to find the right system, the right players, and see how they all gel together.

The USWNT have gone undefeated since their downfall in the 2016 Rio Olympics. They have played five matches, trouncing each opponent. If there is a slight concern, it is the fact that in three of these previous games, the US have given up a goal. For any other nation, that would be alright. But, considering the opposition -- the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Romania -- clean sheets should have been kept. Against better sides, the USWNT will need to be more compact at the back because those nations will be able to carve them apart far easier.

One of the bigger bright spots recently, though, is the emergence of Christen Press. Before the summer of 2016, Press had scored only four goals for her country in the calendar year. But lately, she’s hammering in goals at a regular pace. Press has found the back of the net eight times in since September 15th. She scored three times against Thailand, twice against Switzerland, and scored another hat trick against Romania in her most recent match.

Last time out, on Thursday night up north in San Jose, the USWNT dominated Romania scoring eight goals to the visitors one. The goals came early and often. Christen Press scored three goals, all in the first half. Tobin Heath stunned the crowd with an absolute beauty of a curling effort in the 10th minute. Morgan Brian made it three in the 25th before an Alex Morgan brace and a Romanian own goal made it 8 in the second minute of stoppage time. Romania did manage to find the back of the net with Laura Rusell banging one in in the 31st minute.

Hello, and welcome to VAVEL USA’s LIVE coverage of women's international soccer. My name is Kyle Sennikoff and I will be bringing you pre-match build up, live commentary, and post-match reaction. Today, we have the US Women's National team squaring off against Romania for the second time in four days. This time around, the match takes place at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, with kick off scheduled for 9:30 PM EST.